Stories and history at CBS
Jan Molin, Dean of Education
Stories and history at CBS
Entering 2017, the centennial year of CBS' establishment, it might make sense to consider the phenomenon of history. The fact that our institution soon will celebrate 100 years as a business school is not something that we talk or think about every day. Only in a few exceptional cases is history the object of our attention and daily efforts:
When the history of an organization does come up,
it’s usually in connection with an anniversary –
just part of the ’balloons and fireworks’
(Seaman & Smith 2012:45)
We are all familiar with this concept, for instance supermarket chains which seem to celebrate their "special birthdays" once or twice a year. Seen in that light, I think that CBS is better off downplaying the festivities to come. If we, however, focus on history as an expression of the myriads of small stories that can be told rather than only seeing history as an opportunity to achieve something – then together we might deepen the understanding of what CBS represents and might evolve into.
Regardless of how we relate to this institution and its extent in time and relationships, we might all be facing situations where we suddenly find ourselves talking about something we have experienced at CBS. We are all bearers of traditions, habits, and more or less ritualised processes that were established many years ago - and we are all modifiers of the exact same historical 'inheritance' and suppliers of new patterns of expectations and activities. History and future are thus closely linked in our daily lives and the stories we formulate on this basis.
...history is not made by the pursuit of intentional goals by leaders
but by myriads of ordinary people doing (or not doing) their jobs…
(Kreiner & March 2009:57)
CBS' centenary is the perfect occasion to breathe new life into these stories. Perhaps 2017 could be the year where the entire population of CBS strives to describe, understand, and 'learn' from history? It is not a quest for manufacturing 'the grand story' or the 'true' story of CBS. It is an orientation towards the observations and experiences that dwell in each our own minds; which tacitly influence the way we work together and not least our perception of CBS and our professional approach to our day-to-day tasks.
Our professional identity does not express a more or less innate core, but a rich array of stories about incidents and occurrences, which tie us to great colleagues and memorable places. That is the core of the understanding of how narratives influence our individual sensemaking. The sense we thus make meanwhile draws up the general conditions for our notion of a possible future. To ourselves, or closest colleagues, and CBS. There are thus plenty of reasons to breathe life into the stories and to make personal experiences explicit to ourselves and to others.
Having no history is a Utopian notion. Nothing comes from nothing - and in principle, everything happens for a reason. We all have the ability to make sense (where sense cannot necessarily be made). The stories we make will bear the explanations of what happened, why it happened, and not least the sense it (has) made.
CBS once had a president, who, in what he did and said,
publicly distanced himself from CBS' history. He was only here for two years
before he had to find a job somewhere else that made sense to him.
The leader who turns his back on history,
turns his back on the staff
who in fact are bearers of the history that is being ignored
or shut out from leadership.
Above is an example of a small story, which uses observations of a historical course of events to make sense of what it means to lead someone.
In light of this example, it is not only interesting to share the small stories, but also to try to learn what the story in fact is about, why you remember it so clearly, and the point it may form the basis of.
Therefore we invite everybody who is affiliated to CBS to share their small stories. We all possess a fauna of anecdotal material to contribute and to publish in a carefree, honest, and thought-provoking form. In this way, we can create an abundant collection of stories, which can be combined and interpreted in colourful constructions and notions of patterns and correlations. As psychologists would say, it is never too late to have a happy childhood - or in the words of David Bowie:
You have to make the past part of your
personality
CBS has a storytelling culture - we make sense of and across stories, which may bring an experience of a strong and healthy 'childhood'. We want to be able to reflect ourselves in cheerful/sad/edifying/challenging/problematic/heroic anecdotes, which all offer a solid basis for our own - and CBS' further development.
Let me conclude by sharing a small story, which took place before the turn of the millennium:
The President of CBS had opened a wide-ranging debate about
how CBS was to be organised in the future.
A number of working groups with different
mandates had been set up to establish
broad and nuanced material, on the basis of which
a new structure
could be discussed and decided.
As soon as the working groups had finished their work
and written their reports, CBS organised a
large faculty conference to present the material
to more than a hundred employees. The day included both group
discussions and presentations
and finally, the President
took the floor and briefly and objectively
described the impact of the tremendous efforts
made by the working groups and the groups
who had discussed the material as part of
the faculty conference programme. He then looked at the audience
and ascertained:
"In my opinion, CBS should maintain
the current organisational structure. After this day, we are now able
to do it on a well-informed basis!"
I am certain that this story has been interpreted in many different ways. I am certain that there are numerous things to learn from this story... and that is exactly my point:
If we share our stories, we get something to talk about, which might even make a difference.
Kreiner, K & March, J.G. (2009): Heroes and History at CBS. In The distinctiveness of Diversity (eds. Molin, J & Irwin, A. G.) Copenhagen: Samfundslitteratur (41-57)
Seaman Jr., J.T. & Smith, G.D. (2012): Your Company’s History as a Leadership Tool. In Harvard Business Review. December 2012 (45-52)
Share your story
Send us your CBS story at cbs100@cbs.dk - write ’My CBS story’ in the subject. Text, pictures, video or sound - you choose the format.
Submitted stories may be published by CBS in connection with CBS' centenary and used for commercial purposes by CBS. CBS reserves the right to edit submitted material.